Just My Luck Parent Review

After an impulsive smooch with a masked stranger (Chris Pine) at a company party, Ashley Albright (Lindsay Lohan) finds her former good-luck has been stolen away. To reverse this misfortune, she must track down the mystery man and kiss him again.

Movie Reviewby Rod Gustafson

Is there a finite amount of luck in this world? Can it be stolen away in a kiss? If you answered "yes" to those two questions, there's a good chance you'll find Just My Luck a pleasure to view -- especially if you are an admirer of Lindsay Lohan. For everyone else, consider this query as an opportunity to bail out of seeing a movie that may make for a long sit.

The setup is straight simple. Lohan's character, Ashley Albright, is a publicist for a music producer. However, her personal life provides her with an amazing bonus -- unbelievable good luck. Whether it's a string of green lights on the way to work or coming out of a tough meeting smelling like a rose, this girl can't do anything wrong... until she meets Jake (Chris Pine).

An impulsive smooch with a man she believes to be one of the dancers she's hired for a big company masquerade party, leaves the girl suddenly floundering in a wave of cursed trouble. It begins with breaking the heel of her shoe, and ends with being arrested after unwittingly setting her boss up with a male prostitute. Seeking the advice of a Tarot card reader, who had earlier warned her of impending doom, she's told the only way of retrieving her windfall lifestyle is to find the masked man who kissed her, and then kiss him back. Armed with a portfolio of headshots of all the entertainers that performed at the bash and the support of some girlfriends, Albright hits the streets of Manhattan with her lips puckered.

The problem is Jake isn't really a dancer. Instead, he's a down-on-his-luck music promoter who cheated his way into the event with the sole purpose of meeting a big-time music producer. For reasons unknown to him, ever since that night his luck has reversed. Now it seems he can't do anything wrong. Repping an unheard of band called McFly (a very popular group in reality), Jake suddenly sees fortune on the horizon.

Of course destiny dictates these two will need to meet again, but it's uncertain which of them will end up with the basketful of blessed providence. This unknown is one of the few secrets the movie holds.

Although the premise is cute, the story plays out at in an immature manner, more suitable for a ten-year-old. Yet parents of the 'tween and teen crowd may have some reservations about the script's inclusion of occasional mild and moderate profanities, as well as sexual content. The later features an implied sexual encounter between an unmarried couple, two women about to kiss while a man cheers them on, some other innuendo and lots of Lohan's cleavage. Consequently, this supposedly serendipitous tale suffers the unlucky fate of being too young for adults and too old for children.

Just My Luck Parents Guide

This film presents luck as being something you either have or don’t have, and implies that destiny is a matter of fate. How do you feel about this? Do you think we have any control over the outcomes of our lives, or are we simply in the hands of fate? What is the danger in believing there is no method by which we can control our destiny? What is the risk of believing we can do everything on our own?

About author

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.